Evaporative air cooler for vehicle cabs

ABSTRACT

An evaporative air cooling apparatus particularly adapted for vehicle cabs includes a tank for water to be evaporated by a cylindrical porous pad which is pumped to a self-operated circulating nozzle; air to the vehicle cab being drawn through the pad and into the cab along a conduit in heat-exchanging relationship to the water supply.

United States Patent [72] inventor Wilson J. Logue c/o Logue Motor & Manufacturing Co., Tribune, Kans. 67879 [21 App]. No. 868,862

[22] Filed Oct. 23, 1969 [45] Patented June8,l97l

[54] EVAPORATIVE AIR COOLER FOR VEHICLE CABS 9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 62/309, 261/29, 62/310, 62/31 1, 62/314 [51] Int. Cl F2Sd 17/04 [50] Field of Search 62/309,

[56] 1 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,237,497 4/1941 Muriford 261/29 2,769,620 1 1/1956 Davison 62/314 3,273,867 9/1966 Emblom 261/29 Primary Examiner-William J. Wye Attorney-Christen and Sabol ABSTRACT: An evaporative air cooling apparatus particularly adapted for vehicle cabs includes a tank for water to be evaporated by a cylindrical porous pad which is pumped to a self-operated circulating nozzle; air to the vehicle cab being drawn through the pad and into the cab along a conduit in heat-exchanging relationship to the water supply.

PATENTEU JUN a :97:

SHEET 1 OF 2 INVENTOI? WILSON J. LOGUE A TTORNEYS EVAPORATWE AIR COOLER FOR VEHICLE CABS This invention relates to an inexpensive apparatus for supplying eooled air to the interior of a compartment, such as a vehicle cab, which makes efficient use of the heat-absorptive effect resulting from the evaporation ofa liquid, such as water, when in contact with a moving stream of air.

A feature of the invention is the provision of a tank having an air space above it enclosed by a porous pad with a rotating nozzle positioned to spray water on the upper periphery of the pad so that atmospheric air drawn through the pad into the enclosed space will be cooler therein.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of recirculating means for the water supply which includes a pump for drawing water from the tank, supplying it to a nozzle which is angularly directed to induce rotation of the nozzle and providing a series of openings into the tank at the lower margin of an evaporative surface to return water to the tank.

It is also an object of the invention to utilize the cooling effect of the water supply by passing the cooling air through a conduit in heat-exchanging relationship to said water supply.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the following description in connection with the annexed drawings, in which FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred form of evaporative air cooler in accordance with this invention;

FlG. 2 is a side elevation of the assembled apparatus;

F IG. 3 is a plan view as observed from below, and;

FlG. 4 is a crosssectional elevation.

in the drawings the numeral denotes a circular tank, provided with a number of outwardly extending cars 11 which enable the tank to be firmly secured to the roof of a vehicle cab, a fragmentary portion which is indicated by numeral 50, or other enclosure to which the air cooling apparatus is to be attached. The tank is provided with a filler spout 12 having a removable drain plug 14 near the bottom. The bottom wall 15 and upper wall 16 of the tank are provided with central openings for watertight connection with cylindrical air conduit 17, the lower end of which may project slightly below the bottom wall and through a suitable opening in the roof the enclosure to which the cooled air is to be admitted. The upper portion 18 projects sufficiently above the upper wall to provide a shield against the direct entrance of water into the conduit, while the outer periphery of the upper wall is provided with a series of apertures 19 to permit the return to the tank of excess water from a cylindrical evaporator pad, indicated generally by numeral 20, which rests removably on the upper wall 16 substantially in alignment with the drain apertures 19. The evaporator pad may comprise a cylindrical mat 21 of moisture'retaining porous material, such as felt, or fiberglass, supported on opposite sides by stiff cylindrical protective metal mesh coverings 22 and 23 which may be fabricated from wire open work lattice material known as hardware cloth." The whole evaporator assembly fits closely within an annular rim 24 which projects above the upper wall 16 and is strong enough to support a removable metal cover 25, having a downwardly turned outer rim 26, which fits over the top of the evaporator. The cover and evaporator can be conveniently secured in place by means of several flexible coiled springs indicated by numeral 27, the ends of which, 28, are attached at spaced intervals to the cover, so that the springs may be snapped under a series of books 29 attached to the exterior of the tank.

Bridging the top of the conduit 17 is a diametrically arranged bracket 30 which supports a vertically extending pipe 31 having at its upper end a rotary coupling 32 connecting the interior of the pipe with the horizontally arranged piping 33 which terminates at its opposite ends with a pair of nozzles 34 which are directed upwardly and at a slight angle to the vertical in respective opposite directions so as to impart rotation to the piping 33 while directing water to the inner circumference of the upper margin of the evaporator pad. Water is supplied to the assembly supported by pipe 31 by means of flexible tubing 35 connected to outlet of an electric pump 36 mounted 'on the upper wall 16 and having an inlet 37 extending into the tank adjacent the bottom thereof.

Also supported below the bracket 30 is an electric motor 38 which has connected to the lower end of its shaft a fan 39 which directs airdownwardly through the conduit 17, which the lower end of the conduit is provided with a diametrically extending rod 40 which serves as a support for a pair of semicircular closures 41 having their straight edges connected to the rod by means of hinges 42 which frictionally grip the rod to allow adjustable positioning of the doors, as by means of knobs 43. Switches 44 and 45 may also be attached to one of the doors for controlling the electrical circuits (not shown) for the fan and pump motors respectively.

In operation, once the tank has been filled, the pump motor 36 may be started by closing switch 45 to force a spray of water from the nozzles 34 which, being angularly directed with rotate the piping 33 and wet the entire upper periphery of the pad 21. When switch 44 is closed the motor 38 to drive blower fan 39 to draw air through the pad 21 into the space inside it and down through conduit 17. The initial contact with evaporating water substantially cools the atmospheric air entering the conduit and, in addition, the recirculation of excess water from the pad through openings 19 into the tank will, after a few minutes operation, cool the water in the tank to a degree that contact between the air and the walls of the conduit produces additional cooling.

Having described a preferred form of the invention it will obvious that various modifications and improvements could be made which fall within the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. Evaporative cooling apparatus for an enclosure comprising a tank having upper and lower walls for a supply of water, an air conduit extending vertically through said tank in heattransferring relationship with a supply of water in the tank, a generally cylindrical porous evaporative pad, means for mounting said pad on said tank and for enclosing the upper end of said evaporative pad, means for draining excess moisture from the bottom of said pad directly into said tank, means for closing the upper end of said cylindrical pad, rotary nozzle means mounted concentrically with respect to said pad, pump means for delivering water from the tank to the nozzle means for distribution to at least the upper circumferential portion of the pad, and blower means for drawing air through said pad from the exterior atmosphere and through conduit means to an enclosure in communication with the lower end of the conduit.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein the upper wall of said tank is horizontal and the lower edge of the pad rests on said upper wall, and said means for draining excess water from the pad includes a plurality of apertures provided in the upper wall adjacent the pad.

3. The invention defined in claim 2, wherein said tank is cylindrical and approximately the same diameter as said cylindrical pad, and said means for enclosing the upper end of said evaporative pad includes horizontal cover means, and detachable fastening means for holding the cover means and pad superposed on the upper wall of the tank.

4. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said blower means includes an electric motor and a set of fan blades on the shaft of the motor and means supporting the motor to position the fan blades within said conduit.

5. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said rotary nozzle means includes a vertically extending pipe in communication with said pump means, a generally horizontally extending section of piping rotatably mounted on said vertical pipe and terminating in an angularly outwardly directed orifice in communication with said vertical pipe.

6, The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said air conduit includes a door for regulating the discharge of air from the lower end thereof.

7. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said tank is cylindrical, said air conduit is concentrically disposed in said tank, and said blower means and rotary nozzle means are concentrically disposed with respect to said air conduit.

3 ,5 8 3 1 74 3 4 8. The invention defined in claim 7, wherein said air conduit 9. The invention defined in claim 8, wherein said air conduit includes a diametrically extending bracket supporting said also includes a diametrically extending bar, and a pair of blower means within said conduit and supporting the rotary semicircular doors hingedly mounted on said bar for regulatnozzlc means above the conduit. ing air discharged from the conduit. 

1. Evaporative cooling apparatus for an enclosure comprising a tank having upper and lower walls for a supply of water, an air conduit extending vertically through said tank in heattransferring relationship with a supply of water in the tank, a generally cylindrical porous evaporative pad, means for mounting said pad on said tank and for enclosing the upper end of said evaporative pad, means for draining excess moisture from the bottom of said pad directly into said tank, means for closing the upper end of said cylindrical pad, rotary nozzle means mounted concentrically with respect to said pad, pump means for delivering water from the tank to the nozzle means for distribution to at least the upper circumferential portion of the pad, and blower means for drawing air through said pad from the exterior atmosphere and through conduit means to an enclosure in communication with the lower end of the conduit.
 2. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein the upper wall of said tank is horizontal and the lower edge of the pad rests on said upper wall, and said means for draining excess water from the pad includes a plurality of apertures provided in the upper wall adjacent the pad.
 3. The inventiOn defined in claim 2, wherein said tank is cylindrical and approximately the same diameter as said cylindrical pad, and said means for enclosing the upper end of said evaporative pad includes horizontal cover means, and detachable fastening means for holding the cover means and pad superposed on the upper wall of the tank.
 4. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said blower means includes an electric motor and a set of fan blades on the shaft of the motor and means supporting the motor to position the fan blades within said conduit.
 5. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said rotary nozzle means includes a vertically extending pipe in communication with said pump means, a generally horizontally extending section of piping rotatably mounted on said vertical pipe and terminating in an angularly outwardly directed orifice in communication with said vertical pipe.
 6. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said air conduit includes a door for regulating the discharge of air from the lower end thereof.
 7. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said tank is cylindrical, said air conduit is concentrically disposed in said tank, and said blower means and rotary nozzle means are concentrically disposed with respect to said air conduit.
 8. The invention defined in claim 7, wherein said air conduit includes a diametrically extending bracket supporting said blower means within said conduit and supporting the rotary nozzle means above the conduit.
 9. The invention defined in claim 8, wherein said air conduit also includes a diametrically extending bar, and a pair of semicircular doors hingedly mounted on said bar for regulating air discharged from the conduit. 